Jim Brown reviewed Arcadia by Lauren Groff
a commune and it's aftermath
I loved this book for its descriptions of a hippie commune, especially given that those descriptions come from the perspective of a child. I'm always interested in books that attempt to tell stories from that kind of perspective. How do you do it without lapsing into the cartoonish?
The latter part of the novel moves forward in time and is also really interesting. There's a pandemic - impressive for a book published in 2012. Plus, there's an interesting discussion of how cities of the 2000s are closer to a 1970s commune than rural spaces. Cities are places where people are together, living communally (often right on top of one another). An interesting idea: maybe rural life in the U.S. is as isolating as isolating urban life? Maybe moreso?
I loved this book for its descriptions of a hippie commune, especially given that those descriptions come from the perspective of a child. I'm always interested in books that attempt to tell stories from that kind of perspective. How do you do it without lapsing into the cartoonish?
The latter part of the novel moves forward in time and is also really interesting. There's a pandemic - impressive for a book published in 2012. Plus, there's an interesting discussion of how cities of the 2000s are closer to a 1970s commune than rural spaces. Cities are places where people are together, living communally (often right on top of one another). An interesting idea: maybe rural life in the U.S. is as isolating as isolating urban life? Maybe moreso?